2008 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE FOOTBALL

Congrats to Alabama football on a great season. The Tide won the SEC West and beat Auburn to win the 2008 Iron Bowl!! Head football coach -- Nick Saban -- was named by the Associated Press as the 2008 College Football Coach of the year. The University of Alabama is once again King of College football in the State of Alabama.

However, Bama fans suffered through their only two losses in the last two games of the season. First Bama lost to Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Then they got beat soundly in the Sugar Bowl by the Utah Utes. We'll never know how much the suspension of All-America left tackle Andre Smith might have made a difference. But, I doubt it would have turned the game around. Utah played with fire in its belly because it perceived it was disrespected by the BCS for being left out of the Championship game (despite being undefeated). And, Nick Saban's comment that Alabama came from a "real" BCS conference did not help matters at all.

In any event, it's time to look onto next season. Alabama will have to replace John Parker Wilson and Andre Smith. But, otherwise, it is mostly a young team with lots of freshman who got quality playing time this year. So, Alabama football looks to possibly be even stronger next year.

One other thing, if you are an Alabama football fan, you should check out a great site we stumbled on recently. It's at BamaNation. The site has lots of Alabama football content and free forums to read and post on. So, check it out!

Nick Saban and Alabama just keep doing what they need to do to win! The latest was an overtime thriller over LSU (27-21) in Death Valley. The win clinched the SEC West Championship for Alabama. Bama's Defensive Back Rashad Johnson was named National Defensive Player of the Week for his (Alabama Football record-tying) 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD); 4 tackes; .5 QB sack -- what a game!

Of course, that was just the latest in a long line of clutch wins this year. First it was the huge win against Clemson to start off the season; later another at Georgia. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said Clemson had the best running attack in the nation. The Tide held it to 0 yards. Wow. And started something like 10 freshmen. WOW! Needless to say, we are sticking with our prediction that Alabama will win the SEC West this year. In fact, after the win at Tennessee, Alabama has virtually locked up the SEC West because no other team in the SEC West has fewer than 2 SEC losses. The Crimson Tide still has its annual "Iron Bowl" grudge match with Auburn. Auburn has won it the past 6 straight years. We think that streak will end on November 29th at Tuscaloosa.

But, due to the recent close games, many are raising the issue now of whether Bama has peaked and is due for a loss or two. Read about that at Have We Already Seen High Tide?.

If you are looking for tickets to the SEC Championship game, or any bowl game, check out SEC Football Tickets.

We picked the Alabama Crimson Tide to WIN the SEC West football crown in 2008. Yes, we stuck our necks out a bit on this one, but just had a feeling.

Well, more than just a “feeling.” We think our 2008 Alabama football prediction is based on reality as well. In the big picture, LSU is likely to be down this year. Everyone will be gunning for the national champs. And, they lost some key players in the off-season - both to the draft and for other reasons. You can read more about that at 2008 LSU Tigers Football.

And, Auburn, well Auburn will be strong and we think the SEC West will come down to the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. We just think this is Bama's year. There's no way Auburn can take a 7th straight Iron Bowl.

Also, Alabama football looked really good last year - for the first half of the year. The Crimson Tide then looked pretty bad for much of the second half of the year (see 2007 Alabama Football. The question is which team will show up in 2008?

Thanks to JEFFHREED at flickr.com for this picture of a dapper Nick Saban on his way to an Alabama football game

We'll have a good idea early as UA takes on ACC power Clemson on August 30th at the Georgia Dome in a nationally televised game (ABC). Clemson looks very strong this year, so that will be a big test.

This will be Nick Saban's second year as Bama's head coach. And Tide faithful have high expectations. John David Parker returns for his senior season as QB and much will depend on him. He has shown the ability to be terrific and terrible too. But the Tide has 9 starters returning on the offensive side of the ball including running back Terry Grant and wide receiver Mike McCoy.

So, Alabama Crimson Tide football looks good on the offensive side of the ball and they are always strong on defense.

Thanks to flickr.com/photos/alabamaflorenceuna for pictures # 1, 2 and 5. Thanks to flickr.com/photos/Alabama Geographer for photo # 3. Thanks to flickr.com/photos/bjmillican for photo # 4. Some rights are reserved for these photos.

Alabama Crimson Tide Football has the richest history and tradition in the SEC. That says a lot. The University of Alabama has the most National Championships (12) and most SEC Titles (21). They had Bear Bryant, the most legendary SEC Football coach -- ever. [In fact, we just added an exclusive Bear Bryant Story.]

And after a lull (and the firing of Mike Shula after the '06 season), Bama football looks to be on its way back up under Nick Saban. Alabama had a big win over Colorado in the 2007 Independence Bowl. The score was 30-24, but the win was bigger than that because it reversed the late-season slide and was a solid win over a big-name program. In the off-season Saban was inducted into the Independence Bowl Hall of Fame. He's coached two games in that Bowl (a win at Bama and a loss as coach of Mich. State in '95).

No one has an “easy” SEC football schedule. There just isn't such a thing. Alabama goes to Georgia, Tennessee and LSU. Those will all be tough games to win. But, we think they'll take one of them. And, that they'll run the table at home. So, the Tide will likely have 2 losses when they play Auburn at home in the Iron Bowl on November 29.

And this is the year for Alabama to beat Auburn. Auburn has won a record 6 straight Iron Bowl games against Alabama. The streak stops this year. We think Alabama will win the Iron Bowl and with it the SEC West. We've even ranked them 12th nationally. We shall see.

Sports Information Directors (SID's) from each SEC school voted Alabama's Offensive Lineman Andre Smith and Safety Rashad Johnson into their 2008 SEC Preseason 1st Team All-Conference Team. Also, Center Antoine Caldwell was named to the All-SEC 2nd Team by the SID's.

Head Coach: Nick Saban (2d year at Alabama) (98-48-1 .670)

Stadium: Bryant-Denny (92,238), Tuscaloosa, (77 years old)

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